I listened to “Hell or Heaven” around 10 times, starting over once it finish. But today I just found a free download on last.fm, Michael Schenker Group — Diggin’ Hard and, so far, I listened it 21 times. No lyrics this time, ’cause this is an instrumental song. But it is so nice to hear, I could work all day listening to this non-stop.

You know when some song get stuck in your head and you can’t get bored of listening it over and over again? It happens to me from time to time and this time it is “Lynyrd Skynyrd – Hell or Heaven”.

Mama used to say to me, you can make your destiny
Keep your feet planted on the ground
You can always get it back, make a
castle from a one room shack
It’s all of what you make of what you’ve found
Son you’re gonna find out when you’re older
There’s always been the hand of god restin’
right there on your shoulder

Will it be hell or heaven on earth
The choice is up to you
Look to the sky, the answer is clear
Are you gonna, live life for all it’s worth
Choose hell, or heaven on earth
If you live it right, there’s nothing to fear
‘Cause you’ll find heaven right here

Saw a man the other day, had it made in every way
Till his greed brought him down
He was blinded by the city lights, now he
shivers in the cold tonight
Who will save the lifeguard when he’s about to drown

Will it be hell or heaven on earth
The choice is up to you
Look to the sky, the answer is clear
Are you gonna, live life for all it’s worth
Choose hell, or heaven on earth
If you live it right, there’s nothing to fear
‘Cause you’ll find heaven right here

You know you’re gonna walk through fire
You know your gonna feel the pain
Oh you’re gonna lose, if you want to win the game
And everytime your heart is breakin’
And everytime your faith is shaken
Remember what mama said… Oh that day…

Hope when my time has come
I’ve left enough to build upon
Ain’t no one gonna say I didn’t try
Here’s why…

Hell or heaven on earth
The choice is up to you
Look to the sky, the answer is clear
Are you gonna, live life for all it’s worth
Choose hell, or heaven on earth
If you live it right, there’s nothing to fear
‘Cause you’ll find heaven right here
You’ll find heaven right here Oooohhh..
You’ll find heaven right here Oooohhh..
Oooohhh…. heaven right here…

I’m not a music expert. Far away from it. I’m just an audiophile who carries a 60Gb iPod around, full of songs and I’m always open to new bands when they appear on last.fm (although, as you can see, I’m kinda “oldschool” about music.)

One thing that I learned all those years is that vocals matter (well, as long as there are lyrics to be sung.) The task of the singer is not just go to the mic and say words: there is the tone and the speed and those things affect the way you feel the song. If the singer says “I killed my gramma” with a voice that is near laughing, you know there is something wrong with the way he/she is singing such song.

Take, for example, Pink Floyd – High Hopes. I know the video clip is like a mess, but when you hear the lyrics with the slow and deep voice of David Gilmor, what do you feel? To me, it feels deeply nostalgic. Now compare with this cover from Nightwish. Unfortunately, it is not Tarja, but go for it.

Now that you are back, answer me this: what is the feeling about the song? I mean, it is not a bad cover, but there is something lost in there, isn’t it? It may make sense for the “angst generation”, but talking about your youth with such anger makes me feel like the guy really hated his young years.

Not that covers are a bad thing. If you hear Tears for Fears – Mad World, what you get? A guy talking a mad world and how he liked the dreams where he dies in an upbeat voice makes you feel like he really enjoy such place and dreams. But, when you hear the Gary Jules cover of the same song, it completely changes the meaning: the slow beat and deep voice makes you feel like that guy feels there is something wrong.

Why did I brought all that up? Read the comments on the Nightwish cover. Some people got it right when they said the cover is missing something, just to fan boys point that the original version sucks balls. Not only it is not nice, but, IMHO, a guy that put an answer like that doesn’t give a rat’s ass about music. It is a matter that “someone is saying something bad about my favourite band! I can’t allow it!”.

Just to make sure that it isn’t a fight against Nightwish: I really like their songs and I believe that “Over the Hills and Far Away” soungs WAY batter on their version than the original Gary Moore version, which seems flat and unemotional when compared with the cover.

I have 6624 songs on my iPod and there are some that I just didn’t heard yet. And some are just frustrating when you find them.

Like “The Beach Boys” singing “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” in the “Beach Boy’s Party”. The album is fun: it is like they got some friends and played whatever came in their minds. The problem with the song, though, is that it is a sad song, in a way. But the girls seemed more interested in making noises than following the song: in every “Hey!” they scream at full lungs, just ruining the dark mood of the song.

Ok, even if it was a real party with some friends, at least they could imagine that those screams were ruining the song and remove it from the album.

Fortunately, the album was released in 1965, so the fuckers got away without being beaten by yours truly.